The opportunity to double Statoil's 10 per cent market share came when Conoco put its network of JET stations in Ireland up for sale, writes Colm Ward.

A strange rumbling reverberates around the Irish Financial Services Centre (IFSC) these days. That's the sound of an army of financial wizards grinding their teeth as they watch the markets go haywire in the wake of Enron and WorldCom.

In the offices of Statoil, at the heart of the IFSC, however, an air of calm reigns. This is personified in the relaxed, down-to-earth manner of managing director Mr Tony Murray. He has good reason to be relaxed. Internationally, the group's share price hit an all-time high in New York last week, while the Irish operation, over which he presides, celebrates 10 years in Ireland this summer, during which time it has more than doubled its market share.

It all started when the Norwegian company bought BP's Irish operation in 1992. Mr Murray was financial director with BP at the time and one of his main tasks was to prepare the company for takeover. Once the deal had gone through, Statoil set about transforming the company from fifth place in a market of six oil companies to the market leader.

He explains what happened thus: "\ said: 'What do you think you can do? You're number five in a market of six.' And they said: 'Go off and come back with a strategy plan.' In the meantime, we had a plan for revamping the whole network and launching the brand. We came up with a rebranding plan in terms of launching the \ brand, which was phenomenally successful," he says.

"We shook the whole industry up. People didn't know what to expect from us." But there was a long way to go. Statoil would need to double its 10 per cent market share if it was to achieve its ambition.

The opportunity to do that arose when Conoco put its network of JET stations in Ireland up for sale.

Mr Murray was working in company headquarters in Norway at the time and he was given the job of working out a deal with Conoco.

The newly enlarged Statoil quickly ran into problems with the Competition Authority. Fears that competition would be adversely affected meant the company had to sell some of its stations to competitors and had its share of the market limited to 20 per cent.

The other challenge for Mr Murray was to ensure the smooth marriage of two very different companies.

"We felt we had reached the basis to achieve the market leadership, so what we needed then was to just move it forward. But we spent a lot of time trying to pick up two companies that were quite different in culture and put them together," he explains.

That he succeeded in this says a lot about his own personal approach to business and to dealing with people. Mr Murray describes himself as a facilitator, who enjoys helping people achieve their potential.

He also believes that respect is an essential element in any successful organisation.

"At the core of our values is respect - respect for people. And that's the way I operate. It doesn't matter what level you're at. You don't get respect because of your position and, irrespective of whether you're a good operator or a bad operator, you should be respected as a person."

Having ironed out most of the internal difficulties, the next task for Mr Murray was to position the company at the head of the market. He began investigating the concept of forecourt retailing, which was relatively new to the Republic at the time. This resulted in the Fareplay brand, which combined traditional fuel sales with a wide range of food available in-store.

By 1997, Statoil had become the market leader, according to Mr Murray.

However, although sales were important, he had a different focus. "\ wasn't the key issue for us. The key issue was that consumers perceived us as market leaders," he says.

"We see ourselves as innovators, trend-setters. We want to be seen as the people who are leading the market. And I believe we have that situation in the marketplace and that consumers recognise that clearly."

That attitude was behind the decision to market the Fareplay brand as a franchise.

The approach Statoil took to a franchise was different to many others in the retail market. Mr Murray describes this approach as a more "holistic" one, where the entire concept is franchised, not just the products or the name.

He hopes to have 20-30 franchisees over the next three to four years.

Success, he hopes, will come from combining the franchisees' entrepreneurial skills with the Fareplay brand. But, he is determined to retain some control of the company's retail business. "We believe our best Fareplay outlets will be run by franchisees. We also believe our worst Fareplay outlets will be run by franchisees. And we will always have a core of company-operated Fareplay outlets where we can continue to develop trends for the future," he says.

This spirit of innovation is facilitated by the Scandinavian attitude to business, he believes.

"They're good business people. They tend to be more creative. I think we latched on to that. We were very good at control but we weren't very good at creating, partly because \ didn't give us any money. Now we've got the confidence to do that, and we've delivered for them".

Mr Murray and his team are now concentrating on developing the brand over the next few years. He believes that customer convenience will be the key to success.

"We reckon that about 25-30 per cent of all food in Ireland is consumed outside the home and we reckon that, over the next five to 10 years, that number will probably double. So that's the focus we have," he says.

Mr Murray describes himself as a "jack of all trades" in business. This is reflected in his personal life. An active involvement in sport including golf, soccer, rugby and GAA is combined with an interest in DIY. This extends to his own home in Portmarnock, in Dublin, which he designed himself.

He himself best sums up his approach as a manager. "We spend a lot of time on career development. But I'm not going to give anything to you on a plate. If you want it, I can facilitate it," he says. "If I can help develop people to their limit, I really enjoy that."

Born: 1954
Education: CBS in Fairview.
Family: Married, three daughters, one son.
Career: Mr Tony Murray joined Statoil in 1992 from BP Oil (Ireland). From 1992 to 1997, he was financial director with the company. He was made managing director of Statoil Ireland in 1997.

Before joining Statoil, Mr Murray was financial director with BP Oil (Ireland) and treasurer of Cadbury Ireland.

Mr Murray is a member of the board of Statoil Ireland Limited and chairman of the Irish branch of the Institute of Petroleum.

Why is he in the news?: Statoil is celebrating 10 years in Ireland this summer.